In Greek mythology Narcissus became transfixed and paralyzed by the beauty of his own reflection, ultimately leading to his ruin. Today a similar trag

Today's Selfie Is Tomorrow's Biometric Profile

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2024-10-02 09:30:02

In Greek mythology Narcissus became transfixed and paralyzed by the beauty of his own reflection, ultimately leading to his ruin. Today a similar tragedy is occurring in the reflecting pool of social media where the allure of selfies has contributed to the rise of biometric surveillance technologies. Artwork by Adam Harvey 2022 CC-BY-NC-SA (based on a 3D scan of “Ephebe Narcissus” by Scan The World).

The production of commodities creates, and is the one and universal cause that creates a market for the commodities produced. — James Mill, Commerce Defended (1808)

In 2021 the IRS (U.S. Internal Revenue Service) announced they would begin requiring “selfies” for face recognition to access tax documents on their website. Their demand was strongly rejected by civil rights groups1, technology activists2, and even politicians from both parties.3 In response, the IRS announced in February 2022 they “will transition away from using a third-party service for facial recognition” and instead “bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition.”4

It is the latest example of a precarious global trend towards using selfie-style biometric authentication. Amazon, Google, Intel, MasterCard, and countless financial startups have already launched similar programs using “pay by selfie” technology that utilizes frontal-facing smartphone cameras to authenticate financial transactions. The habituated, comfortable, and expressive action of taking self-portraits is now a high-security interaction. Many airports and border control checkpoints around the world are also using similar selfie-styled face recognition kiosks to screen for potential terrorists and expedite passenger boarding verification.